Hilary learned to swim in her backyard pool and started swimming competitively at age six. It wasn’t long before she splashed onto the world stage from training at Saanich Commonwealth Place. Her accomplishments include: Bronze medals in the Women’s 200-Metre Backstroke at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and 2013 FINA World Aquatics Championships - where she set and broke the national record. She also won a Gold medal in the Women’s 200-Metre Backstroke at the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games and was a finalist at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

The sheer determination of Hilary and two-time Olympic medalist Ryan Cochrane kept Canadian swimming afloat for several years. She started her competitive swimming career in South Surrey and was largely unknown when she came across the strait to train with Randy Bennett at Saanich Commonwealth Place. She was so much a part of that golden era of swimming and now takes her rightful place next to Ryan Cochrane and Randy Bennett in the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame.

Coach Ryan Mallette guided her later career. “Hilary set the bar for hard work,” said Mallette. “She set the bar for what you can do if you put your mind to something. She was the standard the young kids could follow in terms of all those things.”